Notes

Began brewing in 1634, began selling their beer in 1780. Paulaner also owns Munich's Hacker-Pschorr, whose brewery it closed in 1998. Paulaner's big Ausschank in München is the Paulaner Keller; they'll charge you €1 just to get into the beer garden, and €6.40 per Maß. There's also Paulaner am Nockherberg at Hochstraße 77, next to the brewery.

Overall Impression (3½)Amber opaque, thick head. Very smoky aroma. Medium-big creamy body, big smoky banana flavor on top of quite a lot of malt. Very nice malt and wheat sweetness all the way through.

Overall Impression (2½)Huge frothy head. Dark yellow opaque. Much of the aroma seems to be hidden under the head! Whatever is there isn't very assertive. Interesting phenols...not really "clove", more like "rubber". Oddly not offensive. Light carbonation. Refreshing. They really pour a nice liter here.

Overall Impression (2½)Looks very much like a Pilsner indeed. A little paler than I like. If anything has ever smelled malty-sweet, this beer is it. Noble hops present, but in the background. LOUD noble hop flavor. Body is OK, but could be heavier. (Actually, I'd cut back on the hops somewhat and leave the grain bill alone.) Comparing this with Pilsner Urquell (of course), it scores low. Comparing it to many of the other alleged Pilsners, it's a pretty good beer.

Overall Impression (3)Red, almost no carbonation, good head. Big malt aroma, and a lot of hops. Very big beer. Sweet-ish to start, like toffee. Chocolatey-caramel flavors follow, with a good hop finish. Hint of alcohol late.

Overall Impression (2½)Nice dark amber. Molasses aroma. Thick, sweet. Molasses not as prominent as in aroma. Not as bitter as it could be. Somewhat alcoholic. Rates better than 13.5, but it's not my specialty.